Chapitre 25: Hot-headed

Zmey yelled, "Why... why the hell is Aura in there!?"

Silvan clenched his sabre with a firm grip. He groaned, "What are you to do?!"

Nymera chuckled. "Something... interesting!"

Suspended in the air beside Nymera was a hazy vision of mountains. For Zmey and Silvan, their eyes wide as saucers, the image blurred into nothingness.

Without a second thought, Zmey inched forward, his fist clenched tight. "They… they're all asleep! Why!? What have you done to them!?"

The floating projection showed Lady Nadia, Aura, and Nero. They knelt at the cliff's edge, where a fall would be dangerous.

Their hands were bound behind them with slack. They were nodding off in a treacherous spot, which was surprising.

'Curse it! Aura should be stronger than this!' Zmey lamented.

Silvan didn't dare to move any more. He was agape in shock. 'They're trapped in illusions...' he thought, looking at a careful rate at Nymera, as if monitoring her actions. 'She can control their life and death...' he pondered more. 'They might never get out of there. Their best versions are being shown to them...'

Nymera chuckled. She clapped her hands together with malice. The sound echoed through the endless ice realm. She paced herself with care, as she always had. She nuzzled the aerial projection to vanish.

If Zmey wasn't sure of anything, he knew the three were somehow captured by her. But still, he failed to believe. How come a powerful Celestial Dragon would fall for a trick like that?

'It's impossible...'

"The woman..." Nymera intoned, facing Silvan, Zmey forgotten to be in existence, "... isn't she the one who has always helped you with healing potions and those to cure your beast-taming side effects?

I at least know your intimacy; despite that, I'm stunned at why you left her out of this. Are you truly sacrificing yourself? You have been planning your revenge all this time! Would be nice if two comrades go the same path, you know..."

Silvan knew she was talking about Lady Nadia.

Zmey couldn't help himself from gaping out of surprise, and astonishment!

"What... what in the world are you pulling!? Are you supposed to keep listening to her rants in this kind of situation? You're supposed to be more knowledgeable and experienced... . Shouldn't we be thinking about how to save everyone else?!"

Nymera chuckled in a jesting tone. "Oh?"

She turned her glance in a slow manner, locking eyes with Zmey standing in the distance. Zmey clenched his fist the more seconds it took for her to still be looking at him. She chuckled again.

"You...? I'm afraid, with that experience level of yours, you won't even find a lead not to talk of saving them..."

Zmey would have wanted to chuckle at the irony of her statement if not for the kind of situation. His experience level?

"You must think you're above everyone. I don't know who in the world you are or why you're hurting others," Zmey groaned. A hint of a smirk was obvious at the end of his statement.

"But you've no idea how long I have endured. And how far I have come to this damned day! Likewise... you haven't lived a bit of how much I have done."

Silvan glanced at him with raised brows; Nymera smirked.

He thought that this guy was supposed to say it the other way round... but he didn't let that waver his focus.

The guy had said one thing right... it was no help listening to what Necrot Nymera was saying. She was sapping away their time and opportunity bit by bit.

A medium was surely linked to the illusion that had ensnared Nero, Lady Nadia, and another unknown woman. If he and the hot-tempered guy spread out, they could grab one opportunity by dealing with another.

One of them would wear Nymera down. She would have little time to close the illusionary space trapping the three victims. While the other would venture out of this space to find them by any means possible.

One thing was certain, though. Silvan knew it would be very hard to find something she had kept.

He glanced at Zmey and signalled to him with a slow nod of his head. He looked at him for a few more seconds to see if he understood. In response, Zmey nodded back. It seemed, after all, they were finally on the same page. But he got curious—why was this guy willing?

Before Silvan knew it, Zmey sprinted towards the open space out of the icy limitless expanse. Then Nymera had tried closing the entrance too - the place created from her Umbral Body. But, ever ready and alert, Silvan dashed to her with his sword held straight.

Before Zmey had jumped outside the plane, he heard many combat sounds. Clashing of power and repulsion.

A different air wafted across him. It felt cool, and the hairs on his skin stood up like predatory serpents. Before Zmey lay two paths, two solid roads of choices.

One was a downhill slope that cut between an army of plants, flanking on both sides. Whereas, the other path was uphill, with trees and non-look-through plants concentrating there.

Zmey stood at a spot a few inches away from the golden barrier. It shimmered behind him. He caught the light. For two times, he looked at the paths one after the other. Confusion and frustration crossed his face.

He let out a soft sigh.

"Should I leave?" Asking himself that, he glanced downhill. And asked the second question, "Or should I do as he said?" after which he glanced in the other direction.

Going downhill meant departing from the business unfolding here. This meant even abandoning the best friend of the victim of his reincarnation.

The implication was also breaking the promise he made. To protect Ashbane's heritage in his absence and take care of everything that mattered to him.

...

He sighed. The weight of his decision pressed upon him.

But then, he began walking downhill. 'I have no business with this. I am supposed to handle my own case...

Time seemed to speed up. He reached far downwards on the slope. Ice crunched beneath his boot. Memories lingered in his mind.

How he tricked them inside there to achieve his goal outside the plane. Yelling at the man wasn't to save the abducted ones. No, it was to escape from the plane.

"What's happening to me?" Zmey pondered. The air whistled with a low sound, and he focused on his palm. His brows creased. "I could have died in there as it's what I wanted. But why had I eloped instead? Am I... beginning to feel hopeful again?"

He shrugged that off as soon as it arrived. The back of his palm wiped sweat from his temples. As long as he was still Zmey Ashbane, hope would not cross his mind.

Zmey Ashbane controlled his actions. It was like a cow hoping that humans would never sacrifice it for a feast.

commentaire Commentaire 0

Voter

ENVOYER LE CADEAU

Load failed, please RETRY